When it comes to security, quality and safety of food, which remains a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa has ranked first in the region.

However, it ranked second and ninth, respectively, in affordability and availability. 

Twenty-eight sub-Saharan countries were ranked in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) report, which measures the drivers of food security in developing and developed countries, based on the core factors of food affordability, availability, quality and safety, alongside natural resources and resilience.

The report is sponsored by agricultural chemical company Corteva and produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of The Economist Group

A total of 113 countries were assessed. South Africa ranked sixty-ninth, globally, a drop from sixty-seventh in the last index.

This was attributed to a fourth category included in this year’s report – Natural Resources and Resilience – which changed the methodology.

The report explained that a lack of food safety net programmes or effective food safety net programmes, as well as rising food prices, were reasons for this decrease.

Food affordability dropped in part owing to food price inflation and loss of income during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sub-Saharan African countries had the weakest average performance across all regions owing to rising food prices and high levels of poverty. However, food availability has improved.

“South Africa received strong scores in seven indicators, achieving 94.3 points for the country’s food safety (which includes national nutrition plans, dietary diversity and guidelines, nutritional monitoring and access to drinking water) and the presence of food ‘safety net’ programmes (public initiatives that protect the poor from food-related shocks),” the report highlighted.

While South Africa ranked higher than other sub-Saharan African countries, hunger and food inadequacy are still challenges, which the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated.

Small farm holders have suffered under lockdown restrictions; however, despite the challenges, South Africa’s agricultural sector is globally competitive and resilient, said The Economist Corporate Network Africa director Herman Warren.

“The country’s political leadership was also keenly aware of the need to protect livelihoods and pulled out the stops to cushion the economic blow brought on by Covid-19, for example by providing direct cash payments to citizens that contributed to food security,” said Warren.

Globally, the report showed an overall decline in food security after seven years of consistent improvement.